Afghan Panjshire Resistance Children, with weapons against Taliban

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan thousands of people have headed towards the Panjshire region to find security and join this resistance movement.

Former Afghan government forces forming a resistance movement in a fortified valley are preparing for “long-term conflict”, but are also seeking to negotiate with the Taliban, their spokesman told AFP in an interview.

Since the Taliban took over the country after a lightning strike in the capital Kabul, thousands of people have taken their way to Panjshire to join the war and find a safe haven to continue their lives, Ali Maisam Nazary said.

There, Ahmad Massoud, son of legendary commander Mujahiddin Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was killed by Al-Qaeda two days before the 11 September 2001 attacks, has gathered a fighting force of some 9,000 people, Nagary added.

Photos taken by the AFP during training exercises show dozens of recruits carrying out their master's routines, and a handful of armoured humms driving through the valley northeast of Kabul.

The main goal of the National Resistance Front is to avoid further bloodshed in Afghanistan and pressure a new governing system.

But Nazareth said the group is also prepared for conflict, and if the Taliban do not negotiate they will face resistance throughout the country.

“Conditions for a peace agreement with the Taliban are decentralisation a system providing social justice, equality, rights and freedom for all,” said Nazareth, head of external relations The NRF, adding that if the Taliban disagree there be “long-term conflict”.

Talks between local leaders from the north of Afghanistan and authorities in Pakistan were under way until a few days ago, he added.

While the Taliban control the vast majority of Afghanistan, Nazareth optimisticly stressed reports that local militias in some districts have already begun to resist their harsh rule and have established links with Massoud's NRF.

safe zone

In addition to Massoud's combat forces, Panjshire now hosts more than 1,000 displaced people from all over Afghanistan, who have been poured into the valley seeking refuge, Nazareth said.

We are seeing Panjshire become a safe area for all those groups that feel threatened in other provinces. ”

He added that the province has seen an influx of intellectuals, women's activists and human rights and politicians “who are threatened by Taliban”.

Massoud called for weapons from the United States in an article published in the Washington Post on Thursday. Nazareth told AFP that they also seek humanitarian assistance to feed and care for newcomers.

Massoud is determined to stay close to the people of the valley and put on his father's mantle, Nazzary added, stressing that Afghanistan needs a system of government federation to close its endless cycle of war.